Product Description

Travel along with Elise Kleinschmidt and her British mistress, Lady Anne Stone, as they search for the new but missing earl of Branwell. Determined to follow David Stone's somewhat cold trail leading to Oregon, greenhorns Elise and Anne secure livestock and supplies to join a wagon train. Will the ladies succeed in their quest or succumb to the malfeasance of the mysterious man dogging their heels? Scout Eb Bentley's initial disgust with these ill-prepared women eventually turns into admiration for one lady in particular. Can he protect her long enough to win her over, or will prairie dreams turn into a Wild West nightmare?

Publisher's Description

Travel along with Elise Finster and her British mistress, Lady Anne Stone, as they search for the new but missing earl of Stoneford. Determined to follow David Stone’s somewhat cold trail leading to Oregon, greenhorns Elise and Anne secure livestock and supplies to join a wagon train. Will the ladies succeed in their quest or succumb to the malfeasance of the mysterious man dogging their heels? Scout Eb Bentley’s initial disgust with these ill-prepared women eventually turns into admiration for one lady in particular. Can he protect her long enough to win her over, or will prairie dreams turn into a Wild West nightmare?

Author Bio

Susan Page Davis is the author of more than fifty novels, in the romance, mystery, suspense, and historical romance genres. A Maine native, she now lives in western Kentucky with her husband, Jim, a retired news editor. They are the parents of six, and the grandparents of ten fantastic kids. She is a past winner of the Carol Award, the Will Rogers Medallion for Western Fiction, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Susan was named Favorite Author of the Year in the 18th Annual Heartsong Awards. Visit her website at: www.susanpagedavis.com.

Editorial Reviews

Davis hits a grand slam with her new historical romance series, Prairie Dreams, which has romance and mystery, with some thrills thrown in. The characters are well-rounded and the hero has grit and determination.

By mixing regency and western genres, Susan Page Davis has crafted a story that will satisfy the draw to both eras. As the story was set up, before the actual wagon train journey began, I found the story dragged a bit, but as soon as the train left Independence, the story moved right along. It was heart-warming to find two pampered ladies wanting to pull their own weight and not expecting that their rank and privilege would carry them. All the characters are well-rounded with lots of heart, with human-like qualities.

A surprise ending kind of took me aback for a moment but I trust that the next book in the Prairie Dreams series will pick up where The Lady’s Maid left off. Will Lady Anne’s story be the next one to be told? I look forward to the next Prairie Dreams tale.

Lady Anne Stone's world shatters into a myriad of uncertainty when her father dies; her future appearing rather dire unless she can locate her beloved Uncle David who travelled to America, but has not communicated with his English family in quite some time. Her uncle is the rightful heir to her father's vast estate and is to be named the new Earl of Stonefield, if he can be located and convinced to return to England. Lady Anne and her personal maid, Elise Finster, bravely decide to travel to St. Louis, Missouri, David's last known location, only to learn that David Stone has apparently moved farther west to Oregon. Can two beautiful British ladies possibly endure the rigors of wagon train travel to find a man who may not ever be found?

Eb Bentley is determined that he is making his last trip to Oregon as a trail scout. He begrudgingly accepts the fact that the wagon master is going to allow two regal ladies and their trunks full of fripperies to accompany their group, but Anne and Elise are determined to prove everyone wrong. Interestingly, somewhere along the trail, the lady's maid and the wagon scout begin to blaze a trail all their own. If only there weren't so many complications.

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Lady's Maid." Intriguing premise and plot; nice balance of adventure, suspense and romance; great historical detail which made the story all the more interesting. I am a stickler for good writing skills and Susan Page Davis did not disappoint in that regard, either. There is not much spiritual content for a "Christian" book, but at least it is a nice, clean book. My only real complaint, however, is that I felt I'd been "had" when I came to the end and discovered I had to buy the next book to find out the answer to the biggest question of the plot! I am sure this is a marketing ploy to sell more books (we see it more and more these days in books, movies, etc. that come In "series") but it was even more blatant in this book. Whether this was the author's idea or the publisher's I cannot say, but it irritated me. I prefer to have the loose ends tied up, especially when it comes to the main mystery. It really is an excellent read, though--as long as you are prepared to shell out more money to find out the end of the story.